


Take My Hands

by SidheLives



Series: Fen'Harem Fluffcember 2020 [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Fluffcember, Ice Skating, frozen lake - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27879357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidheLives/pseuds/SidheLives
Summary: "Ready?"Fenris looked at her expectant smile and swallowed down a knot of anticipation.Ready?He felt like a fool in his gifted furs and scarf, heading into the demoralizing prospect of total humiliation when he undoubtedly failed and saw disappointment flood Regan's face. Fenris had rarely in his life feltlessready than he did at that moment.Written for Fen'Harem's Fluffcember 2020Prompt: Frozen Lake
Relationships: Fenris/Female Hawke, Fenris/Hawke (Dragon Age)
Series: Fen'Harem Fluffcember 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035954
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13
Collections: Fen'Harem's Fluffcember 2020





	Take My Hands

"Are you certain this is safe?"

Regan looked up from her laces, storm cloud eyes silver-lined by a smile. "Positively certain." She touched the back of his hand with two reassuring fingers before returning to tightening and tying her skates on.

Fenris looked down at the dull blades strapped to his own feet, then across the frozen lake. "And you've done this before?"

"Oh, loads of times." She responded absently. "My dad taught me when I was little, before Bethany and Carver were born. I helped him teach them when they were little…" Regan's voice drifted off and Fenris looked over to find her eyes wet. "Their hands were so small in their mittens. I held them, one on each side and pulled them around the ice."

He put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her. "They'll be alright," he said gently.

She sniffed and nodded, her eyes clearing. "You're right." She pushed to her feet. "Besides, today is your turn." She grinned at him and he felt anxiety stiffen his spine.

"Of course." Gingerly he stood, legs shaking as they attempted to compensate for the lack of surface area below them. Fenris shivered against the bitter cold, which cut through the warm clothing he was bundled in, and wondered for a moment how he had let Regan talk him into the venture. He could be sipping warm mulled wine in his mansion in high town or, even more appealing, be holding Regan close, their bodies slick with sweat and hearts pounding furiously as a fire raged in the hearth nearby. Then she took his hand and the eager smile on her face chased back the images, reminding him why he had come.

"Take small steps until we get to the ice, and make sure to lift your feet."

He did as she said and they slowly made their way to the lake's edge. Each time he wobbled her hand tightened on his and he felt a smile turn his lips. Her concern for his safety, so subtle yet clear.  _ Too good for me _ , he thought not for the first time; not even the first time that morning.

"Ready?"

Fenris looked at her expectant smile and swallowed down a knot of anticipation.  _ Ready _ ? He felt like a fool in his gifted furs and scarf, heading into the demoralizing prospect of total humiliation when he undoubtedly failed and saw disappointment flood Regan's face. Fenris had rarely in his life felt  _ l _ _ess_ ready than he did at that moment.

“Why don’t you show me how it’s done?” He suggested, voice brusque, but luckily no more than usual.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Okay.” 

Regan released his hand and for a moment Fenris was certain he would topple to the ground, then he bent his knees, dropping his center of gravity and his stance solidified again. He watched her step into the ice and glide effortlessly across its surface, the wind blowing the hair back from her face as she moved. She looked weightless, sailing over the lake with the same grace she exhibited in everything, the blades on her feet slicing across the ice in delicate but confident strokes. Turning back to him she smiled so wide that her eyes squeezed shut and her teeth caught the light from the sun, dazzling him, then she zig-zagged back to the shore where Fenris waited.

"You're beautiful." He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and she beamed, cheeks flushing crimson.

"You're stalling." Regan teased, nuzzling into his hand.

He was, and should have known better than to think it would work. "You make it look so easy."

"Once you get used to it, it will be just as easy for you." She held out her hand to him.

Fenris took the offered hand and carefully moved one foot to place on the ice, then he moved his second foot to join it and the first promptly slid out from under him and he fell hard on his behind, hand slipping from Regan's grip. He grunted, eyebrows pulling down in frustration. Fenris braced himself for her laughter, her mockery that he could fail so quickly at something she accomplished so comfortably.

Instead, she gasped. A short, sharp sound that captured both surprise and worry.

"Oh!" Regan knelt down, somehow not overbalancing on her skates. "Are you alright? I'm sorry, I should have—"

"The fault was mine." He cut her apology off gruffly, angry at both his own failure and the ice itself.

"Everybody falls the first time, Fenris." She smiled warmly, the expression seeming to chase the chill from the air.

"I have a hard time picturing you being so clumsy." He responded.

Regan laughed. Maker, how he loved the sound of her laugh. "I was five. Of course I fell. The important thing is getting back up again."

He met her eyes. Her expression was open and soft. Not judging or laughing at his inexperience, but willing and ready to help him in any way she could. He wondered if she knew how strong she was, and if he could ever be so unafraid to fail as she was in everything. "I am not sure how to begin doing so." He admitted bashfully. 

"Take my hands." 

He took her offered hands, his larger calloused ones around their delicate, smooth skin. She pulled him up, the blades on his feet finding the ice again and the momentum of the movement sending them drifting backward.

"Good. Now slide your feet forward, one then the other." Her grip was tight, and Fenris knew that she would not let him fall again. 

He did as she said, feet shuffling forward as she expertly moved backward ahead of him. He wanted to look down at his feet, to check for dangers or obstacles as he was trained in everything to do, but Regan's gaze would not release his, and he contentedly stared into her eyes as they slowly crept along the lake's top. He didn't even notice his stride lengthening, the quivering in his legs receding, or the distance they traveled until she laughed again.

"You're a natural!"

He looked back the way they had come and guffawed. They had left the shore far behind. "I credit my success more to your assistance rather than any skill of my own."

He released one of her hands to gently brush his hand along her cheek and she leaned into his touch. She was so warm, a flame which he, like a moth, was inexorably drawn to. His lips found hers in a tender, featherlight kiss. "Thank you," he said softly, lips brushing hers with the words.

"For what?"

_ For everything. Freedom, happiness, love. Things I thought beyond my reach _ . "For teaching me. For sharing this with me."

"Fenris, you don’t need to thank me. Everything I have is yours. Everything.”

He felt emotion keeping up his throat and swallowed hard against it. "Thank you regardless."

"You're welcome."


End file.
